


Prehenderat

by LegionLight



Series: One-Shot Previews [1]
Category: DC Elseworlds
Genre: Character Adaptation, Gen, One Shot Preview
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:55:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28136565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegionLight/pseuds/LegionLight
Summary: A call came through. A call from another apartment. Another apartment with another rodent. Another rodent that, due to it being a friday night, left the damn work up to him.He wasn't really in a position to say no.
Series: One-Shot Previews [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2139390
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Prehenderat

Call came through at 6. Came from the Lower-East side. Address's apartment 603, on Flower Avenue. Caller's name is ‘Frankie' Jinny. Apparently there's a ‘rodent' in her food pantry. And since it’s a Friday night, none of the ‘professionals’ would take care of it.

He thought the drive would've been a few, or more hours. It's ‘cause of the shady cars. They usually come out at night. A lot just go from point to point. Some like to park in some roads, making barricades. A rare one or two could be speeding pass, getting chased by rivals.

As it turns out though, not many shady cars were out. Going through Low-town didn’t become a struggle. Crossing the bridge didn’t bring about the same, relieved feeling. And the drive itself only took 40, maybe 30 minutes.

He parked his rickety van right in front, behind a two-seater sporting a busted back-bumper. He pocketed the keys, before heading ‘round the back. The round cups, the cage- he got out what essentials he needed. He double-checked on locking the doors. Then with a little rush in his steps, he went up to 603’s door.

Him knuckle-pressing the ringer got an immediate answer. A ginger lady threw the door open. Eyes were wide. Hair a tangled mess. Words started firing from her mouth. But then she took a whiff, and reeled back.

“That'd be me.” He said, smirking at her disgusted face. “But that don’t matter now. I'm here 'bout the ‘rodent'. He took a step inside.

“No!” She slammed the door on his foot. “I asked for a pest-killer, not a drifter.”

“Ms. Jinny, if you are Ms. Jinny, I'm the only fella-"

There's a second slam. “Get out of here.”

He bit back a groan. “It sounded like ye were dying for help-"

Then there's a third. “Out! Or else I'm calling the police!”

“For shy-tee sakes, look!” Plucking out his wallet, he shoved it right before her eyes. “Look and read, lady!”

Her red, lipstick smudged lips parted. Those peepers of hers squinted. For two minutes she shut up. Then she glanced at him. “But you-"

“Tell me what happened, show me the pantry, and let me get the damn work done.”

A few pops rang out in the distance. They got her chewing her lip. She quickly peered over his shoulder. She looked back into the apartment. Then she finally relented, stepping aside and letting him walk by.

“It ha-happened just before I got back. That little-" She coughed. “Warren, the boy I live with, said he only wanted a Poptart. So he'd left his room, probably making a racket, and went in.”

She pointed to the narrow doorway on the right. It lead into a living room, where there's an overturned chairs and several littered pillows. There’s also a maybe 10 year-old boy, sitting ridged on the couch. What looked like the kitchen, lied behind him.

“He walked over, pulled the door, and IT leaped! The thing- rodent leaped onto his arm! After twenty seconds, he managed to throw it off. And instead of killing it, he let it run back into the pantry.” She said with a pointed glare, directing it at the boy who refused to look up.

He tried to ignore that. “Did he…try fightin' it with that?”. He asked, nodding at the umbrella on the floor.

“The boy should’ve. But he dropped it…for that.” She referred to the hairbrush in the boy's hands.

“Ok.” He carefully approached the pantry. He got on one knee, setting the cage down. “What about ye, lady?”

“Wha- No!” She squawked. “Those things carry diseases and they- they're-"

“Before it went into hidin', did ye try doing anything drastic?” After tugging open the café’s door, he pulled the pantry's until he could peak inside.

“Drastic? What do you mean drastic?”

Although the answer seemed obvious, he pressed on. “Like bashin' the walls, for one. As well as flashin' bright lights, makin' threats-"

“Can get rid of IT already?”

“Yes or no, lady.”

“Fa- Fine, yes!”

“…Ok.” He caught a glimpse of a darting tail. “Ye can leave now.”

“Leave?”

“Work can’t get done fast with an audience.”

With what might’ve been a fushed face, she stomped off. She attempted to mutter, callin' him rude and some stupid cus' words. She called for the boy. Soon clacking heels were joined by laced-shoes. Then the ginger, and not-ginger kid, left.

Tense, clenching fingers unfolded. The umbrella was moved. By a tad bit the door’s further pried. The tail, plus some part of the back, is spotted. They’re seen going behind a big, hole-torn bag.

Backing up some inches, he brought out four items. One's a simple, seesaw trap. Another's a tiny box. The other two are the flat, round cups.

After both cups receive a stare, there's a heavy breath. The trap is set down. Half a cracker gets coated in peanut spread. The bait's put in place. Slow steps are made to the light switches. They're both given a flip.

In darkness comes sounds. “Pesk.” First comes the short and high-pitched. “Pesk…Skee.” There's a faint pitter-patter. “Skee…skee.” Soon both types come to a halt. Minutes of quiet follow. Then after a lengthed wait, the pitter-patters return and grow-

“SKE-"

There's a cry. A loud, unfinished cry. It was stopped by a sharp ping. And it's replaced by a low squishin'.

A match's struck. The fire illuminates a scene. Two, skin-pressing buck teeth. Ripped nametag labeled ‘O. Flan'. Duo of blue, quavering eyes. The cage of steel bars, now occupied by something-

No, not something. What lays inside is a corpse. The stiff, decapitated corpse of a rat. With beady eyes now forever wide.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is a short preview of a story...I might work on, in the future. After seeing one of the preview pictures of The Suicide Squad, as well as listening to some of the Mafia(Remastered) and Joker soundtracks, I started working on this some months ago. I got a quarter or so through what might be the next chapter, before I had to stop and work on other current stories.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


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